This invention relates to a hand-held electronic device.
Numerous hand-held electronic devices are available as information stores for personal contacts, calendar appointments, and the like. Additionally, many hand-held devices wirelessly connect to the public Internet to allow for the sending and receiving of e-mail. Such hand-held devices may also provide more general Internet access, such as access to the World Wide Web. Further, many such hand-held devices also double as a cell phone.
A number of user interfaces have been utilised for these hand-held devices. Once such interface is a QWERTY keyboard. These QWERTY keyboards may be designed so they are particularly suited to use with the thumbs only. There is a trend for hand-held devices to shrink in size so as to provide a more streamlined look and so that the devices are more portable. This is particularly prevalent for hand-held devices which also provide cell phone functionality. As these devices become smaller, so do their keyboards, which provides a challenge to find a keyboard design that, despite its small size, remains usable.
The TREO™ 600 by Palmone, Inc. copes with the small keyboard by providing domed keys. The domed shape of the keys effectively provides a gap between keys and also provides the user with a tactile target which assists the user in perceiving which key was pressed.
This invention seeks to provide an improved keyboard design suited for hand-held devices.